Agriculture and Rural Transformation: Highlights of an innovation systems approach to a complex prob

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Agriculture and Rural Transformation Highlights
of an innovation systems approach to a complex
problem

• Monty P. Jones
• FARA Executive Secretary
• Expert Group Meeting on Agriculture and Rural
  Transformation
• 23-25 April, 2007
• ECA, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

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CAADP the African response
Four Pillars
Pillar 1 land water mgt
Pillar 3 Increasing food supply reducing hunger
Pillar 2 Rural infrastructure trade-related
capacities for market access
Fostering Agricultural Transformation for Food
Security, Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction
in Africa

• Pillar 4
• Agricultural research, technology dissemination
  adoption
• Integrated natural resource management
• Adoptive management of appropriate germplasm
• Development of sustainable market chains
• Policies for sustainable agriculture

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The framework for African agricultural
productivity (FAAP)Endorsed by the 7th Ordinary
Session of the Assembly of Heads of States
Governments calling on African member states and
RECs to realign agricultural productivity
programs to FAAP
CAADP 6 growth rate in agriculture
4 growth rate in agricultural productivity

• Prioritize activities with highest potential to
• impact productivity
• Capacity weakness
• Insufficient end-user involvement
• Ineffective farmer support systems
• Systematic fragmentation among innovation
  systems elements
• Fragmented external support
• Inadequate investment in ARD

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FAAP promoting African agricultural innovation
1. Evolution reform of agricultural
institutions services
Extension, research, training education
farmer
Development agencies, intl financing institutions
African countries, private sector
2. Increasing the scale of Africas investment
3. Aligned coordinated financial support
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FAAP interventions
African Union Ministerial meeting
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The sub-Saharan Africa Challenge Programme
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The key to increasing impact of African
agriculture

• lies in institutional innovations and new
  agricultural R/D approaches that address
  shortcomings of current approaches

Thus, the SSA-CP aims to improve livelihoods of
Africans by promoting effective partnerships to
generate, adopt and scale up/out appropriate
innovations through a new paradigm Integrated
Agricultural Research for Development (IAR4D)
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Why FARA is concerned about approach to ARD
Traditional RD approaches are linear
Research
Extension
Farmer/end user
FARA has responded to calls for R4D approaches
that overcome shortcomings of current
approaches IAR4D based on innovation systems
systems approach, iterative/ learning,
participatory, entire value chains

• Are largely prescriptivedo not provide for
  adequate participation of all actors to ensure
  relevance foster learning
• Reductionistnot integrated, yet context is
  holistic/ systems
• Not adequately linked with markets and policy
• Have had some impact but it has not matched
  potential (islands of success)

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Innovation platforms
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Stakeholder priority commodities / sector

• African Union
• The Food Security Summit in 2006 requested the
  African Union Commission (AUC) to take oversight
  for the promotion and protection of
• rice, legumes, maize, cotton, oil palm, beef,
  dairy, poultry and fisheries products as
  strategic commodities at the continental level,
• while cassava, sorghum and millet were classified
  as sub-regional commodities.
• Focused attention will also be given to products
  of particular national importance

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DONATA portfolio A NEPAD flagship technology

• Includes
• NERICA rice www.warda.org
• Tissue culture banana www.ahbfi.org
  www.kari.org
• Improved cassava www.iita.org
• IR-Maize for striga infested areas www.cimmyt.org
  www.aftechfound.org
• High-beta carotene sweet potato www.cip.org
• TC Sweet Potato
• Pigeon Pea
• INRM Tools
• Dry land pitting (African farmerinnovations

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DONATA commodity based technologies to be
scaled-up and out beginning 2007

• ASARECA
• Crops maize and orange fleshed sweet potato
  (OFSP)
• Countries Maize Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, DRC
  (Phase 1) Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, Sudan
  (Phase 2)
• OFSP Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Burundi
  (Phase 1) Ethiopia (Phase 2)
• CORAF/WECARD
• Crops cassava and maize
• Countries Coastal region - Sierra Leone,
  Liberia, Cote dIvoire and Guinea. Central
  African region - Cameroon, Republic of Congo
  and Central Africa Republic Sahel region -
  Senegal, Mali and Burkina Faso
• SADC-FANR (preliminary recommendations)
• Crops Sorghum and OPV maize
• Countries Angola, Tanzania, Zambia training is
  critical for Lesotho, Swaziland and Botswana due
  to critical loss of labor as a result of HIV

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DONATA Proposed Strategy

• Field level
• Innovation Platforms for Technology
  AdoptionIPTAs
• researchers, extension or advisory services,
  policy makers, civil society organizations (CSOs)
  in agriculture ie farmer organizations, private
  sector or agric-business, NGOs (active
  involvement of relevant stakeholders)
• Technology Dissemination Pathways
• Farmer collective action (FCA)
• Farmer-to-farmer learning
• Market led Technology adoption (MTA)
• Participatory Market Chain approach
• Participatory approaches and Learning tools
• Participatory Development Approach (PDA)
• Participatory Varietal Selection/Participatory
  Gender User Analysis (PVS/PRIGA)
• Participatory Learning and Action Research (PLAR)
• Farmer Field Schools
• Demonstration plots (limited participatory
  opportunities)

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Capacity NARS ASSESSMENT REPORT

• The assessment recommended a combination of
  strategic options for
• 1. improving the impact of African agricultural
  research, including adoption of holistic and
  inclusive innovation systems concepts
• supporting African NARS to make institutional
  changes and strengthen their systems skills
• 3. creating new directions and mechanisms to
  strengthen capacities of NARS in agricultural
  science and research management.

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Strengthening Capacity for Agricultural Research
and Development in Africa (SCARDA) Program
Components
Three year Implementation Phase
6 month Inception Phase
Component 1 Strengthening competencies and
capacity in agricultural research management.
Component 2 Strengthening capacity for
professional development in agricultural research
and development.
Needs analysis development of programme
activities ME and communication strategies.
Output 1 Detailed capacity strengthening
programme.
Output 2 Improved agricultural research
management systems and competencies.
Output 3 Improved capacities of NARS
institutions, scientists and extension agents.
Output 4 Adoption of the innovation systems
approach to underpin ARD.
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BASICstrengthening capacity to build capacity

African Universities (Set priorities and agendas)
Learning methods
Teaching materials
Case Studies
Case Studies
Improved teaching, learning institutions
Non-African Partner Universities
Agricultural Research Centers
Case Studies
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Regional Agricultural Information and Learning
System (RAILS)

• In response to one of the FARA functions aimed
  at
• Accelerating sharing and exchange of agricultural
  knowledge and technologies, and strengthening of
  stakeholders ICT/M capacities

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RAILS regional perspective
National focal point
ASARECA RAIN
FARA-RAILS
SRO AIS
National focal point
National focal point
Northern Africa
CORAF
SADC/ FANR
National focal point
Global knowledge through information and learning
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African Biotechnology and Biosafety Initiative
Stakeholder Consultation Results contd

• Stakeholders view
• FARA should play a catalytic role at the regional
  level, adding value to on-going national and
  sub-regional level initiatives and minimize
  duplication
• FARA should facilitate
• African agricultural biotechnology and biosafety
  strategy
• Harmonising biosafety frameworks
• Information Communication
• Participation of African delegates in
  international biotechnology and biosafety
  negotiations and treaties

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ABBI Partnerships and linkages

• Linkage with the AU-NEPAD Panel of Experts and
  DREA HRST biotechnology and biosafety Steering
  Committees
• Linkage with SROs/RECs biotechnology and
  biosafety initiatives
• Partnership with Africa Biofortified Sorghum
  (ABS) project for nutritional enhancement
• Partnership with Public Research and Regulatory
  Initiative (PRRI)
• Coordinator of the SIST plant biotechnology
  thematic group

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Gender and Agricultural Development

• Many African economies are in the hands of women
• Yet, women receive less than 10 of agricultural
  extension/advisory service delivery
• Estimates in Kenya suggests that providing the
  same level of access to farm inputs and education
  to women farmers as men, will result in 20 yield
  increase
• The focus therefore should be reforms that
  promotes excellence and growth in African
  agriculture

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Conclusion

• Gender, excellence and growth underpinned by
  innovation systems approach are key missing
  potentials in agriculture and rural development.

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